System and Method for Automated Process Orchestration

1. A computer implemented method of communicating with a remote application, the method comprising: establishing a remote desktop session between a first computing system and a second remotely located computing system which is able to operatively communicate with the remote application; the establishing step including setting up a virtual channel for communication of data relating to graphical user interface interactions at the first computing system to the second remotely located computing system; receiving a command from the first computing system via the virtual channel, the command including a command identifier, being configured for execution by the remote application and requiring an execution response from the remote application; providing the command to the remote application seeking to execute the command; generating the execution response to provision of the command to the remote application, the execution response including the command identifier; and sending the execution response to the first computing system via the virtual channel.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the establishing step comprises activating a command input interface at the first computing system and activating a command delivery interface at the second remotely located computing system, the command input interface and the command delivery interface communicating via the virtual channel.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the establishing step comprises providing to the command delivery interface a link to an executable program for controlling an operation of the command delivery interface, the link being directed to a file share location on a file share data store.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the receiving, generating and sending steps are controlled by the executable program provided at the file share location of the file share data store.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising preparing the command for execution by the remote application, the preparing step comprising receiving the command in a first language of an application running on the first computing system and translating the command into a second language of the remote application.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the translating step comprises using an open input/output interface to translate a first format of the command operable under a first operating system of the first computing system into a second format of the command that is executable under a second operating system of the second remotely located computing system.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the translating step comprises the open input/output interface operating a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) messaging protocol and/or a Representation State Transfer (REST) messaging protocol.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the translating step comprises using a set of predetermined types of commands stored in a local data store.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising preparing the command for execution by the remote application, the preparing step comprising including arguments or parameters in the command which determine an operation of the command at the remote application.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising preparing the command for execution by the remote application, the preparing step comprising generating the command in a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving step comprises comparing a type of the command against a list of acceptable types of commands and filtering out the command if the command does not conform to a predetermined acceptable type of command.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the type of the command comprises a new form command having an instruction which has not previously been known to the second remotely located computing system and the comparing step comprises determining if the new form command is permitted by the second remotely located computing system.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising converting the received command into a plurality of sub-commands representing the received command and the providing step comprises providing the sub-commands to the remote application.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising converting a first format of received command at the second remotely located computing system into a second format of the remote application before providing the command to the remote application.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating step comprises generating the execution response to include a command success field indicating whether the command was successful or not.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the command further comprises executable code comprising a plurality of commands, and the generating step comprises generating the execution response indicating whether execution of code by the remote application was successful.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the executable code is configured to update the remote application, and the execution response generated indicates whether updating of the remote application in accordance with the executable code was successful.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating step comprises generating the execution response to include an output field providing an output generated by the remote application following execution of the command.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a switching function at the first computing system, the switching function determining, in use, if the command needs to be executed locally or remotely, and if the command needs to be executed locally, then forwarding the command to a local application provided at the first computing system.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving an instruction to generate the command from one of the group comprising an RPA application, a browser application, a UAT application and an automated script.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising using a webserver provided at the first computing system to configure an operation of the remote desktop session between the first computing system and the second remotely located computing system.

22. A system for implementing an automated process orchestration with a remote application, the system comprising: a remote desktop client application at a first computing system and a remote desktop server session at a second remotely located computing system remotely located from the first computing system, the second remotely located computing system being operatively in communication with the remote application, wherein the remote desktop client application and the remote desktop server session are configured to establish a remote desktop session between the first computing system and the second remotely located computing system, the remote desktop session including a virtual channel for communication of data relating to graphical user interface interactions at the first computing system to the second remotely located computing system; the remote desktop server session including a receiver configured to receive a command from the first computing system via the virtual channel, the command including a command identifier, being configured for execution by the remote application and requiring an execution response from the remote application; the remote desktop server session being configured to provide the command to the remote application seeking to execute the command; and to generate the execution response to provision of the command to the remote application, the execution response including the command identifier; and the remote desktop server session being further configured to send the execution response to the first computing system via the virtual channel.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the remote desktop client application comprises a command input interface and the remote desktop server session comprises a command delivery interface, the command input interface and the command delivery interface configured to communicate via the virtual channel.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the command input interface comprises an open input/output interface configured to translate a first format of the command operable under a first operating system of the first computing system into a second format of the command that is executable under a second operating system of the second remotely located computing system.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the open input/output interface operates a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) messaging protocol and/or a Representation State Transfer (REST) messaging protocol.

26. The system of claim 23, wherein the command delivery interface is configured to convert the received command into a plurality of sub-commands representing the received command and to provide at least some of the sub-commands to the remote application.

27. The system of claim 23, wherein the command delivery interface is configured to convert a first format of received command into a second format of the remote application before providing the command to the remote application.

28. The system of claim 23, wherein the command delivery interface comprises a filtering function for filtering out specific types of commands previously specified as unallowable.

29. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising stored instructions, the instructions when executed by a processor cause the processor to: establish a remote desktop session between a first computing system and a second remotely located computing system which is able to operatively communicate with a remote application, including setting up a virtual channel for communication of data relating to graphical user interface interactions at the first computing system to the second remotely located computing system; receive a command from the first computing system via the virtual channel, the command including a command identifier, being configured for execution by the remote application and requiring an execution response from the remote application; provide the command to the remote application seeking to execute the command; generate the execution response to provision of the command to the remote application, the execution response including the command identifier; and send the execution response to the first computing system via the virtual channel.